Karbala

FORT JACKSON, S.C. -- Seizing on the decline in civilian and U.S. military deaths in Iraq, President Bush delivered an upbeat assessment of the war's progress yesterday, citing both the drop in violence and greater Iraqi control of restive provinces. But he conceded that corruption remains a problem, unemployment is high and economic improvement is spotty at best. "Slowly but surely, the people of Iraq are reclaiming a normal society," he told a cheering crowd of 1,300 soldiers who had just completed the Army's nine-week basic combat training course.

WASHINGTON - In the face of more bloody news of American deaths and casualties in Iraq, the Senate approved and sent President Bush an $87.4 billion emergency war spending bill yesterday, closing a contentious chapter in the congressional debate over the conflict. Lawmakers who had been divided over the huge measure allowed it to pass without a recorded vote, in a sign that its political momentum might have superseded the reservations that Democrats and some Republicans had about spending such a large sum on a mission that has been steadily losing public support.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi insurgents struck again yesterday in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood, killing a police precinct chief. But Shiite Muslim pilgrims defied threats of violence and marched through the troubled area, waving their flags in pride and beating their chests in piety. The events captured two key aspects of the evolving Iraq conflict: The mostly Sunni insurgents are piling up victims among Iraqi security forces, particularly Shiites. But that has failed to deter the majority Shiites from pressing their religious and political agendas.

KARBALA, Iraq -- A confrontation between American troops and supporters of a militant Shiite cleric eased yesterday after U.S. forces withdrew from around a house formerly used by the Muslim leader and handed over control of the area to Iraqi police. The troops, who had surrounded the house and several nearby buildings Saturday, pulled back after an early morning raid, neighbors said. The Americans apparently searched the buildings for the cleric, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hassani, and his supporters, who are accused of killing three American soldiers in a shootout last week.

WASHINGTON -- The United States unleashed the biggest ground battle of the war yesterday against Iraqi forces south of Baghdad, launching a much-awaited thrust at the heart of Saddam Hussein's regime. Fierce night fighting was reported as U.S. Army and Marine ground forces advanced on at least three separate fronts across a vast area 50 miles or more from the capital. American troops were battling some of Iraq's best-trained army units, known as the Republican Guard, including elements of the Medina, division near the city of Karbala.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S.-led occupation forces battled with insurgents and militias loyal to a rebel Shiite cleric in at least four cities in Iraq over a 24-hour period ending yesterday, killing at least 38 Iraqis in what one U.S. official said was part of a "minor uprising." Brig Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the deputy director for occupation forces, said that in the 24-hour period, 14 Iraqi militiamen had been killed in the poor Shiite Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City after U.S. forces were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and small-arms fire in at least four or five operations.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Millions of people gathered under heavy security in the holy city of Karbala yesterday, marking a major Shiite religious holiday without the serious violence that has marred the rite in recent years. Five pilgrims were attacked in a drive-by shooting but survived unscathed, the Associated Press reported. Scores of pilgrims had been killed in previous days as they converged on the shrine to the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Hussein, in one of Shiite Islam's holiest cities.

LONDON - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is planning to damage the country's Islamic shrines and blame coalition forces, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said. U.S. forces have been engaged in fighting on the outskirts of Najaf and Karbala, both holy cities in Shiite Islam. Karbala is the resting site of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson, Hussein. "The Iraqi regime intends to damage the Iraqi holy sites with a view to blaming the coalition," Blair told Parliament. "We are doing everything we can to protect the holy sites," he said.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Sectarian warfare directed mostly at Shiite Muslim pilgrims and worshipers celebrating the climax of an important religious holiday left more than 60 Iraqis dead yesterday, including eight bodies found here in the capital. Also, details emerged about arrests in the wake of a bold insurgent raid Jan. 20 on a joint U.S.-Iraqi security compound in Karbala in which a U.S. soldier was killed and four other American troops were captured and shot to death miles away. A police official in Hillah said four Saudis staying in a Karbala hotel were arrested in connection with the attack.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Marine was killed yesterday when his patrol struck a land mine northwest of here, while insurgents unleashed a string of attacks, some on pilgrims headed to Karbala for a Shiite religious festival. The Marine was killed as he traveled in a combat logistics patrol near Qaim, a town close to the Syrian border, American military officials said. South of Baghdad, gunmen fired on a minibus full of Shiite pilgrims, wounding eight, police and hospital officials said. The attack occurred near Latifiya, a lawless area where insurgents have often attacked Shiite pilgrims going to or from the shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala.